Autumn Splendor

I have never seen autumn before. I was so thrilled and exited when i landed in Princeton. but for my amusement 0n 2ndof October there was only one tree which was changing color, right next to my sons apartment,Were as all the others stayed green . I even wondered, knowing my obsession with seeing autumn, may be he painted the leaves each night.

When I asked him , did he paint the leaves??. He told me,an old English story which I will share with you.

There was an old man who was very sick and was in bed. It was days of winter. the trees were dropping their leaves.The old man would gaze out of the window and count the last ten leaves in the tree and tell his nurse that the day the tenth leave falls, he will die. Days passed by and for his amazement the tenth leaf was there hanging on the tree and never fell off.The man recovered day by day and was out of his death bed. The day he left the hospital the nurse who was caring for him got admitted with sever cough. She never told any one the secret that she went out in the cold night every day and stuck the tenth leaf back on the tree.